Short-handed Jackets Fall to No. 11 Wake Forest

April 7, 2007

Atlanta – The Georgia Tech men’s team fell to 11th-ranked Wake Forest, 5-1 Saturday in their last home match of the 2007 season. With the loss, the Jackets slip to 5-14 overall and 2-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Saturday’s match with Wake marked the 12th time this season Tech has faced a team ranked among the nation’s top 20.

The Jackets dropped two of three doubles matches to give the Demon Deacons a 1-0 lead at the break. Tech Tandem Jordan DeLass and Austin Roebuck, playing No. 3 doubles, defeated Andrew Brasseaux and Steve Forman, 8-6, for Tech’s lone doubles win.

In singles play, Jose Muguruza fell in the first singles spot in straight sets to Todd Paul, the sixth-ranked player in the country, giving the Deacs a 2-0 lead.

Senior Zach Rath, playing in his last home match, answered by defeating Forman, 6-4, 7-6, in the No. 3 spot, cutting the Wake Forest lead to one.

Scott Blackmon jumped out to an early lead in the No. 2 singles match, winning the first set over No. 52 Cory Parr, 7-5, but Parr captured the second set 6-4. Blackmon, who climbed the lineup to compete in the two spot for the first time this season, battled in the third set but fell, 6-4.

Roebuck dropped the fourth singles match to Andrew Hamar, 6-3, 6-0 giving Wake a 4-1 lead and enough for the win.

The Jackets, battling injury, were forced to forfeit the No. 6 singles match which gave the Deacs a 5-1 final score.

“I’m definitely happy that I came through today in my final match,” said Rath. “After four years of playing tennis at Tech, I feel that I’ve accomplished a good amount as a tennis player and as a person. I hope I’ve made an influence on some of my younger teammates and that the program will continue to succeed in the future.”

Rath will graduate from Georgia Tech in May with a degree in Management and plans to travel Europe this summer then return home to his native Quebec, Canada.

The Jackets close out the season on the road, facing Maryland on Friday, April 13 and Boston College on April 15.